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 Large Marge 
I have a friend in eastern Pennsylvania named Jerry Carle. Jerry loves drums and is also an accomplished artist. About a year ago, Jerry came across a hollow log of enormous size, with wall thickness of about an inch throughout. How lucky could a drummaker get! He had cut the top and bottom edges appropriately, and made cutouts on the bottom so that the drum's sound would be able to get out with the drum sitting on the floor. Jerry smoothed the wood inside and out, but he had a dilemma: he had never actually put a skin on a drum before, and didn't want to make any mistakes. What to do? (Photo Right: Jennifer helps to tune Marge.) Jerry called me up and asked if I would skin the drum for him. Of course I would! What could be better than helping a guy make the biggest handdrum either of us had ever seen? We made arrangements and met one day in Jim Thorpe Pa. to hand off the shell. (Photo Below: The Drummaker with his creation.) 
The drum shell is about 42" tall, with an oval head of about 23 by 28 inches. We never could discover exactly what kind of wood it is, but Maple is my best guess. The exterior of the shell was marked by the beautiful, random mottlings of spalting, that is the action of fungi upon the wood. That means that the hollow log had been dead for some time, but not long enough to weaken the wood.
Custom rings were made for the drum, and a buffalo skin was secured at Jerry's request. The most challenging part for me was to shape the top edge to my satisfaction. Shaping the curve was the same old work for me, but I did buy a piece of 30 inch square plate glass to lay on the top to make sure it was flat. With my djembes and ashikos, I always make sure the top rim is quite round and flat, for best sound from the drum. Since this drum was oval, I was at least able to make sure it was flat. 
(Photo Right: Jerry enjoys his first jam with Marge.)The skinning of the drum went very well. I used the beautiful Mali Weave rope system to secure the head. The thick buffalo skin stretched more than I thought it would, stopping about 3 inches below the rim. The skin took about 4 dats to dry, and dried to a much lighter brown than the skin had been before stretching. With some help rom my wife Jennifer, we got the drum nicely tuned and enjoyed the drum in our house for a week or two before the trip back to Jim Thorpe. The delivery of Large Marge was a joyous occasion, indeed! I brought some mallets along, and Jerry enjoyed his first jam on his new drum. Large Marge is now the centerpiece of Jerry's living room. Let me know if you find any good hollow logs, I can make a drum for you, too! Page by The Artemis Group. |